As I child I loved gingerbread. I eagerly helped my mother roll the gingerbread dough, cut out snowmen and reindeer shapes, and when she wasn’t looking I would nibble the scraps of dough. I loved the aromatic mix of exotic spices and the magic of gingerbread houses.
In recent years my taste has been soured by overpowering artificial candles and sickly sweet spiced lattes; garish green and red sparkly cookies have disappointed me with their superficial charms.
Today I had a cookie that is enough to make me put up with department store lines, canned Christmas music and cold gray days. Today I fell in love with gingerbread again.
While the gingerbread macaron may be somewhat inconspicuous next to cassis, peppermint, and its other colorful peers in the display case at Pistacia Vera, its subtle coloring belies a tantalizing treat. Without unnecessary candy cane or pumpkin embellishments the flavor of this simple cookie quietly encapsulates the warmth of holidays, home and childhood memories. It is fragrant with the scent of cookie dough, sugar and spice and all things nice. It is light as air, and its air smells festive.
This delicate mélange of sweetness and spice begs to be eaten with mulled wine, hot spiced cider or hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows softly melting into the froth.
You too can fall in love with gingerbread again, and drink hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows at Pistacia Vera. The mulled wine you will have to make at home. Some other new fall flavors you can fall in love with are the apple cider and orange and ginger pâte de fruits but you will have to wait until November for the pumpkin pecan cheesecake.
